President Shimon Peres spoke Monday before 600 students at Manor Cavri High School as part of tour of the Mateh Asher region of northern Israel. In response to questions by the students about Gilad Shalit, who is a graduate of the school, the president said, "Another people won't understand this: he's one of our soldiers who was abducted, and they're talking about returning hundreds of terrorists in order to return him, but the problem is not on the Israeli side, but that we are up against an organization that has no laws or rules and it's difficult to negotiate with it."
He added, "The state of Israel, in the past as today, has done everything to bring pack its captives. Every soul in Israel is a whole world unto its own. Shalit is our son and our soldier, and we'll do everything to bring him back home."